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  • On and on VK Singh whined about when he was born, and on and on went the media about great patriots and martyrs being ill-treated, until the Supreme Court turned down his plea

    [MJR] A man chasing his date of birth

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    First they told us he was a victim of an evil government, working overtime to throw him out of his job a year too early. Then he said that it wasn’t the government really but the army which was doing that – even though he was chief of army staff. Then he took the government, not the army, to court, saying he was younger than he said he was (Note to young people whose eyes glaze over when they come across anyone born before 1979: he is very old on both dates).

     

    Half the media then decided that VK Singh had gone too far while the other half decided that a decided patriot was being used as target practice by an evil government. This could be because many of the daddies and uncles of mediapersons under the age of 40 and holding bog jobs in television are in the armed forces. Those of us over the age of 40, most of whom have been put out to pasture, no one ever cared about our mummies, daddies, uncles, aunties and so on.

     

    Gosh, I sound just like the army chief, sorry.

     

    On and on Singh whined about when he was born and on, and on went the media about great patriots and martyrs (I’m not going there) being ill-treated, until the Supreme Court turned down the general’s plea and said he had to now be older than he wanted to be (don’t we all!).

     

    And so the tide turned. Half the media (maybe I exaggerated a tiny bit about so many uncles and daddies in the army having given birth to journalists, although even the army chief has a journalist for a daughter I hear) turned against the general and now he did a bad thing by fighting for his “honour”. Now we hear that whole date of birth fight was not a good thing, brought embarrassment to the army and so on.

     

    The general wasn’t done though. He licked his wounds inflicted by the Supreme Court, not some usual cross-border enemy and as he did that, he got quite cross. So, with a couple of months left till retirement, he started a tandav nritya, flinging accusations of bribery left and right.

     

    This means gloves off time for the media and a free-for-all amongst higher-ups is the best journalistic cannon fodder ever. Patriots, martyrs, cynics, sceptics, haters and baiters, yellers and screamers all joined in and everyone’s now bashing everyone else all day. The army chief remains at the middle of it all, putting his left in and his right leg out, doing the boogie-woogie, ‘cos that’s what it’s all about.

     

    Disclosure: My daddy and uncles are not and never have been in the army and I am well over 40 (closer to the other figure actually) though I am not as old as the general who is not sure how old he is.

     

  • Also sees record advertising revenue with mainstream advertisers

    Zee Cine Awards beats all other Bollywood award shows in the US

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee TV, the number 1 South Asian entertainment network, announced recently that the 2012 Zee Cine Awards (ZCA) achieved record-breaking ratings this year. According to Rentrak TV Essentials, Zee Cine Awards delivered the highest rating for any South Asian program in over a year’s time (since Feb 11). ZCA received a viewership share of almost 75 per cent during its broadcast.

     

    On the monetizing front, the network saw a 40 per cent increase in revenues from last year’s awards show as announced by Zee TV America’s Business Head, Sameer Targe. He said: “Despite cut-throat competition we always find ways to reinvent, than to discount. As a market leader we have no one to follow, hence the challenge is to always focus on expanding the pie. This year we were able to bring well known mainstream brands like Omega, Verizon and MetLife as sponsors of the show. The idea was to sell the inventory at a premium value, keep the breaks short which eventually resulted in highest viewership.”

     

    Zee TV – the name that has become synonymous with unparalleled quality in entertainment – has been a dominant player in broadcasting content for more than 17 years in the national and international space.  As an Indian channel, Zee TV is committed to supporting the values and traditions that appeal to South Asians across the globe.
    In July 1998, Zee TV expanded its presence in the international space by establishing itself as a mainstay in American households, reaching more than 2 million viewers.  Zee reaches over 600 million viewers in about 168 countries.

  • DNA T20 has always positioned itself as a non-professional cricket carnival that brings with it a month-long dose of entertainment

    High five in DNA T20 season V @ New Delhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    With four successful seasons in the past, DNA gears up for its fifth season of what is popularly known as ‘DNA T20’ amongst top media agencies, at the Jamia Hamdard
    University grounds, New Delhi from March 31.

     

    DNA T20 has always positioned itself as a non-professional cricket carnival that brings with it a month-long dose of entertainment for the participating teams as well as their families, who come to cheer them up.

     

    The tournament offers to be a platform for DNA’s business associates, to know each other better beyond the boundaries of their offices, indulge in friendly banters over food and beverages, share spaces in pictures together and display their passion for the game on-field. It is that time of the year when ‘celebrating together’ is top priority on everyone’s mind and not trade, which is generally a routine throughout the year.

     

    With 12 participating teams facing against each other at an entirely different echelon, one need not be as talented as Tendulkar or as dedicated as Dravid. The DNA T20 raises the spirit of Cricket.

     

    Furthermore, lofty passions and the excitement of experiencing something ‘live and unrehearsed’ during the T20 matches spices up the game to a whole new level.

     

    Supported by Citibank and Frito Lays, with Carlsberg as the beverage partner, Crystal Mirage as the trophy partner, DNA T20 – Season V promises to be one fascinating event.

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief, the strat, and whatever else went into creating an outstanding ad. AdStrat is compiled by Shubhangi Mehta.

    Ad Strat: The friendship pug

    Rajiv Rao, NCD, Ogilvy &Mather

     

    1. Name of the Campaign: Vodafone Network

     

    2. The Brief: In the initial phase of market development Vodafone had communicated ‘Where ever you go, our network follows’ using the Pug. The campaign made our brand synonymous to an omnipresent network and gave it the stature of a constant companion.

     

    As the market evolved, in the next phase, we needed to build a strong consumer perception on not only the network presence, but also of Vodafone’s network quality.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNU1yCpIGGU[/youtube]

    3. Researchinsights:  Research helped us identify that the key parameters in the perception of a good quality network are – connectivity, voice clarity and call continuity( no call drops).

     

    4. The thought process behind the creative: The network qualifiers being slightly technical in nature, we needed a story to bring them to life. The stories we chose used metaphors of friendship in all 3 ads. Each TVC showed our Pug, who signifies our network, being the enabler in forming and growing this friendship.

     

    5. Media vehicles chosen: TV, Outdoor, Print, Radio, Digital

     

    6. Does the treatment do justice to the brief? Yes, we made sweet stories, the Vodafone way, to tell a very tangible network promise. Our metaphors were simple to understand, distinct and left an impact yet emotional to touch hearts.

     

    7. What is the differentiating factor about the ad? In a market where the network promise has mostly been a show what you mean exercise, we have taken the lesser travelled emotional route to communicate the same promise. We have precious moments of interactions between 2 friends coming closer with our Pug (network) as the enabler.

     

    8. Market and client feedback:

    200,000 plus views on YouTube in 1 month

    Early indicators, from a business perspective, look positive. Results are still expected.

     

  • With 5 editions of Divya Marathi, it now covers complete centralMaharashtra. Divya Marathi, Solapur is also the 65th Edition of the Group

    Divya Marathi launches fifth edition from Solapur

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Dainik Bhaskar group announced the launch of the fifth edition of its Marathi newspaper, Divya Marathi, from Solapur.

     

    Solapur with an urban population of more than14.7 lac and a high per-capita income of Rs61,700 is one of the major cities of South-western Maharashtra. The first edition of Divya Marathi from Aurangabad started in May 2011 and soon other editions from Nashik, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar were launched. With 5 editions of Divya Marathi, it now covers complete central Maharashtra. Divya Marathi, Solapur is also the 65th Edition of the Group.

     

    “Through the Solapur launch of Divya Marathi, we continue to steadily enhance our footprint in Maharashtra and we now have 5 strong Marathi editions along withAurangabad, Nashik, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar, said Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp Limited, commenting on the successful launch.

     

    The key proposition of Divya Marathi  Solapur launch campaign continued to be based on presenting an unbiased and fearless newspaper – “Na Ravanchi, Na Sahebanchi, Aata Chalel Tumchi Marji” (Neither influential class, nor Politicians, now public opinions will matter! ) – a theme that was central to the launches of the other 4 editions of Divya Marathi.

     

    Commenting on the success Nishit Jain, State Head; Maharashtra said: “The success is a reflection of the critical role brand building can play for a new entrant. It reflects across our processes. Our planning has been meticulous, including our strategically classifying city to understand its demographic nuances. This sharp focus on planning, management, marketing and branding has resulted in a successful launch of Solapur edition.”

     

  • Despite a hundred 100s, Sachin Tendulkar scores a duck with new endorsements

    Is Sachin’s brand aura on the wane?

     

    By Binoy Prabhakar

     

    Even if you are cricket’s greatest overachiever, there is no escaping pressure. When Sachin Tendulkar recently collected his latest superlative – a century of centuries – the deed helped banish the pressure of ‘when’ that had been building up for a year. No sooner did he say “phew!” than a new pressure took the earlier one’s place: his retirement.

     

    The answer from the man himself, though “in a not Tendulkar-like way”, according to Mr Suresh Menon, editor, Wisden India Almanack, was: “When I retire is something I will decide…” Mr Menon broached the subject in a rather unflattering article earlier this week. “… the pressure on Tendulkar now is to keep playing so his minders can squeeze the last drop out of his huge commercial value,” he wrote.

     

    Mr Menon called this the “flip side of the millions”. “High earning sportsmen make a Faustian deal with the money devil; they are paid sums beyond the dreams of avarice for a decade or two… the devil demands his part of the bargain. Keep playing. Keep bringing in the money,” he wrote.

     

    Brands Tendulkar Endorses…All the deals are pre-existing, no new deals since the ‘Century of Centuries’Aviva, Adidas, Amit Enterprises, Audemars Piguet, Boost, Coca-Cola, Canon, Castrol, Sach (private label Kishore Biyani’s Future Consumer Products Ltd has created with Tendulkar), ITC Sunfeast, Jaypee Cement, Kaspersky, Luminous, RBS, Reynolds, S Kumars, Tohsiba

    Moot Question

    It still does not the answer the critical question: when will Tendulkar call it a day? But if endorsements were the deciding factor, as Mr Menon suggests, the answer would be 2014. All the 17 endorsement contracts in Tendulkar’s kitty run until then, according to his managers, World Sport Group (India) Pvt Ltd. Tendulkar remains among the highest-earning sportsmen in the country, second only to India captain MS Dhoni. But at least for now, there is no prospect of brands prolonging his career beyond 2014. No company has signed him up since his last milestone, belying the widely held expectation in the advertising fraternity.

     

    The only marketing event commemorating his achievement has come from beverages major Coca-Cola, which announced a rollout of 7.2 lakh cans featuring the cricketer. Sportswear major Adidas is preparing to launch a new marketing campaign featuring him in the first week of April. But both are existing sponsors of Tendulkar.

     

    Is it still early to rule out new sponsors, given that Tendulkar’s feat came about only on March 16? Advertising executives don’t think so. The buzz in the industry is that many companies were in talks with Tendulkar’s managers to make the most of his 100th century. Mr Harish Krishnamachar, senior vice-president and country head of World Sport Group (India) had said the feat will not have any impact on Tendulkar’s valuation. But no name has arrived on the scene.

     

    That’s because Tendulkar has always been selective about his endorsements, according to Mr Krishnamachar. “And we have never seen a milestone as a short-term opportunity given that our focus has been on creating a sustained long-term value for him,” he says.

     

    Tendulkar, says Mr Krishnamachar, has been very categorical about what categories he will be associated with and what he will not. “We have a very good assessment of what he is comfortable with and we have stayed true to that.” The brands that Tendulkar has said he will not endorse are tobacco and alcohol, says Krishnamachar. Tendulkar is said to have turned down a multi-crore deal with liquor baron Mr Vijay Mallya’s UB Group two years ago.

     

    …And Those That Haven’t RenewedContractsPepsi, Action Shoes, MRF, Britannia, Fiat, TVS, Airtel, G-Hanz, Colgate-Palmolive, Philips, VIsa, Ujala Techno Bright

    No New Deals

    Mr Krishnamachar says as far as any other category is concerned, it is something they “will consider as the opportunities present themselves”. But for now at least, there are few on the horizon.

     

    And all the existing contracts are many years old, even as much as 20 years in the case of Boost. The ‘newest’, if one can call that, is a deal with Coca-Cola signed in early 2011. Tendulkar’s last deals of note too were signed around then – a Rs 9-crore contract with Pune developer Amit Enterprises and another with apparel maker S Kumars for Rs 13 crore.

     

    Mr Prashant Singh, director of Octagon India, a sports and entertainment marketing company, says it is true that there has been no frenzy over Tendulkar’s latest feat. “There won’t be any until companies realise what his [retirement] plans are,” he says. Mr Singh says in one sense, Tendulkar, who turns 39 next month, is restricted by his own persona. “He has become the grand old man of Indian cricket… a la elder statesman than a player. That restricts more brands coming.”

     

    Mr Singh says what is keeping new brands away could also be the sheer number of endorsements. “He is endorsing 17; where is the scope for more?”

     

    Yet, many brands have not renewed contracts (see adjoining chart) with Tendulkar. He also now has few brands that cater to the young, except Coca-Cola and Adidas, an important segment for marketers. This is the upshot, says Mr Krishnamachar, of changing his portfolio of brands to reflect maturity and high-value categories.

     

    What about his brand value? Mr Santosh Desai, MD and CEO of Futurebrands India, says it isn’t what it was a few years ago. “Clearly, Tendulkar is in the evening of his career.” Mr Desai says the cricketer’s performance of late has been below par and because his century took a long time coming, there was fatigue associated with his feat. Taken together, it explains why Sachin hasn’t received new deals, he says.

     

    Whether Tendulkar wins new deals depends on how he evolves as a brand ambassador, says Mr Desai. “We have to wait and see… there is no clue from his current endorsements.”

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

     

  • The latest offering from Magna is the 'The Ultimate Bible for Men'

    Every man’s new ‘Mandate’

    By Archita Wagle

     

    Saturday saw the launch of Magna Publications’ latest offering Mandate. The launch was held at the yet-to-be-opened F Bar and Lounge (The F Mumbai). The event was attended by well known personalities from the corporate and entertainment world.

     

    The magazine’s tagline ‘The Ultimate Bible for Men’, tells all about Mandate – the team is not promoting it as just a magazine, but as a way of life, commitment to understand what the new age man wants.

     

    The magazine will carry detailed profiles of famous male personalities, spinets about upcoming gadgets, fashion labels and automobiles. The magazine also promises ‘break through features, international personalities, exotic holiday destinations and hard-talks with legends across fields. Mandate will also feature columns on issues related to business, sports and sex columns, all penned by well-known celebrities.

     

    Speaking to MxMIndia at the launch party, Yuvraj Juneja, editor, Mandate brushed aside any concerns over other similar lifestyle magazines which are already present in the market: “Our magazine covers what a man desires, but more importantly it tells him what he should desire, we are giving him options. That’s where Mandate stands differently from other magazines. In the market there are magazines which are content heavy, some are picture-oriented and some are very layout-oriented. But Mandate has a correct balance. We cover everything from fashion to gadgets to holidays in-depth. Our magazine is targeted at the men belonging to the age group of 20-30.”

     

    The launch issue of the magazine seems to living up to its promises. The cover features Virat Kohli, Ranbir Kapoor and Yash Birla and the inside pages carry in-depth interviews with the three, the magazine also features styling tips, a picture heavy feature on the “Man’s most desired” cars and some other interesting features.

     

  • For the immediate future, Mr Ghaswalla has plans for the company going Digital

    Hoshie Ghaswalla takes charge as CEO, Cybermedia

    By Archita Wagle

     

    The winds of change are blowing at premier technology publishing company Cybermedia India. Senior mediaperson and old company hand Hoshiediar Ghaswalla has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. When MxMIndia spoke to Mr Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director of Cybermedia, about the reorganisation, he said: “Earlier only the information and communication technology (ICT) and speciality media group had been reorganised. But now our entire media business has been reorganised and Mr Hoshie Ghaswalla is now CEO of Cybermedia.”

     

    Earlier this year, Cybermedia had reorganised its information and communication technology (ICT) and specialty media group (SMG) in four units Mr Ghaswalla’s charge. The move was for better functioning, faster decision-making and better customer interaction and the new organisational changes were to come in effect from April 1.

    Said Mr Ghaswalla on his appointment, he said: “CEO is just a title, but I am certainly glad to be given this opportunity to head the entire  media business. These are challenging but extremely exciting times for the media industry”.

     

    On his plans, Mr Ghaswalla said: “We had hired a leading consulting firm last year  that worked with  various internal and external stakeholders to come up with a plan  for the future which  I will now focus on executing.  For the immediate future we are going Digital first – we will provide content to our audiences where they want it, when they want it and in the format they want it. For advertisers and sponsors, we will be moving a lot more towards the solutions approach. As a group we have always innovated and are therefore looking at some game changers which will give us tremendous scale in the mid-term.”

     

  • 'The profession is filled with people who are aggressive, over-confident, self-assured and egoistic' – that's how Clea PR's CMD Vinod Nair describes the state of the industry today. This and more, in a free-and-frank with MxMIndia.

    [PR] We’re still a bunch of pimps: Vinod Nair, Clea

    There was a time when a client didn’t have to think twice when it came to selecting an agency of choice to handle their PR account as there was only a single name that was a dominant force then – Clea PR. That was about two decades ago. But much has changed since then and the PR industry has undergone a tectonic shift that has given rise to newer and challenging agencies offering a range of solutions. But even now Clea doesn’t hesitate to go on record saying that most of the CEOs of today have been former trainees of Clea. Such has been the inspiration that it has cast on the sector over a period of time.

     

    But times have changed and after a brilliant run the agency has pulled back and is going slow with its run in India. But the differentiation still exists, as Vinod Nair, Chairman & Managing Director of the agency assures MxM India. In conversation with Johnson Napier of MxM India, Mr Nair opens up on the agency’s past, on the state of the industry today, on the issue of talent, on his new venture and forecasts his mantra for the future. Excerpts:

     

    Q: Clea has had a spectacular past so to speak, but how would you sum up the agency’s standing in the marketplace today?

    Clea PR started as a division of Clea Advertising and Marketing. Over a period of time we built it into one of the largest PR agencies in the space. In those days, even though there were many other PR agencies much older than us we were the ones that were responsible for bringing in a “planned approach” to the business. Also, we were the ones that started the concept of Brand PR in this country. We were handling some of the biggest brands at that time and slowly as the company grew bigger, I bought over the company from the promoters and moved out from the fold. We are into our 17th year right now. In due course of time, after having attained size and numbers I guess I lost interest and the business became a bit boring for me. So we decided to pull back and thereby cutback on our size and clients as a result of that.

     

    Q: What were the factors the led you to pull back and move away from the authoritarian grip that you once commanded in the space?

    I don’t think that PR has progressed the way I would have liked it to progress. As a tool being used by a marketer or as a corporate strategist, we are still media release peddlers. I call ourselves a bunch of “pimps” who are still calling up editors and pushing for a press release or some interview to be featured. Also the fact is that Clea was also the place that every single person who is heading a PR agency today has been a former trainee. What was happening was that the knowledge that one had, which was the USP of a planned approach of how to do brand PR etc – once these guys started going out they started doing it on their own accord. What I observe from the client’s end is that when it comes to paying a PR agency everybody starts shitting bricks. I stopped working for a paltry Rs 50-60,000 a month almost a decade ago and today, you still have big agencies who continue to charge that rate. Also, what has been happening is that anybody who realizes that he is good in this space, they venture out and start their own business. So one witnessed a sudden burgeoning of 1-man, 2-man PR agencies in a short period of time. At last count, there are more than 2000 PR agencies existing in India today. This sudden mushrooming of agencies has led to undercutting of rates between agencies.

     

    Q: While such is the commotion that exists in the marketplace, what is the equation that Clea shares with its clients?

    With Clea, you’ll see that the average age of my client is minimum eight years. Some have been around for even a longer time. So we have clients to whom we have been delivering quality services day in and out. Therefore we have never felt the need to go out and compromise retainer fees with clients etc. In fact I must be one of the few agencies that actually reject business. Also, we were amongst the first that actually started telling clients to pay us for taking part in a pitch and also insisted on asking for a retainer budget that matched our expectations. What was happening is that despite all the efforts that were being put in all it boiled down to was what was the rate that was going to be charged. That was one of the reasons that I cut down on chasing clients aggressively.

     

    Today the effort that we are putting in is by providing value-added services to our clients. Today we handle over 100 brands and for most of them we are part of the marketing planning team. So before a marketing plan is in place and a company finalises it, we are consulted for it. There are many other innovations that we do too, but that doesn’t mean that we ignore traditional media; we also do that and it will continue to remain integral in our plans.

     

    Q: As an agency, how are you scattered throughout important markets across India and which are the disciplines that are in hot pursuit by you?

    Our key branches are spread across six cities and for the rest we use stringer networks. The other advantage that we have is that we have 30-odd branches around the country where we have our own people. So they are involved in a more personal way than most other agencies do. Today, 90 per cent of our clients are brands. One of the trends that has caught the fancy of clients is e-tailing. We’ve bagged four new e-tailing clients recently and I think that is going to be the game-changer as far as PR is concerned. While there are many clients who already offer this service, the difference can come in the marketing and positioning strategy.

     

    Q: While e-tailing is a burgeoning trend what do you gather from the impact that digital is casting on the medium of PR?

    Around five years back when digital hadn’t become as big, I had started Clea Digital that was based out of the US. We were able to offer our clients facebook and twitter strategies even before it was known here. But I think that digital is a big bubble. Let me tell you why. If you see today, there are two professionals with whom you can never argue: doctor and lawyer. That is because you are scared of them. And when you are afraid of something you are willing to pay anything. And so, social media is just a hype today. Nobody understands the medium; suddenly a viral becomes a hit and everybody wants to imitate that instantly – that is not possible. I genuinely believe that the medium is just hype and I do not think it is delivering the kind of value that it should. Today I could easily get about 10 clients who could pay me loads of money to do nothing except set up a fan page, do some mobile blogging, do tweets, some youtube and that’s it. That’s not what it is really about; it’s got to do more about analytics etc.

     

    Q: Tell us a bit about your new venture Talentube?

    Talentube.com is going to be India’s largest community of talent. So whether you are a singer or an actor or a dancer or a lyricist etc you become a part of the community. On the other end, I have tied up with some of the biggest directors in Bollywood like Sudhir Mishra, Mahesh Manjrekar etc and then we will produce movies. We will be employing talent only from this community. We’ve already got $12 million funding for the first two years. The project will be officially flagged off in the first or second week of April.

     

    Q: What according to you is the solution for the rising attrition rate that currently confronts the medium of PR?

    Talent is one area that I consider Clea to be heads and shoulders above everybody else simply because we have never poached anybody from any other PR agency ever. Whereas every single employee from Clea has been poached by other agencies. Therefore I keep making this statement that 9 out of 10 CEOs of PR agencies today have been trainees from Clea PR and almost all of them have come from non-communication backgrounds. Clea has seen attrition that you cannot even imagine. That’s because the training programme by Clea is considered the best in the industry. Since our inception, more than 3000 people have gone through then annals of Clea and most of them are leaders in the industry today. So Clea has always seen attrition and today if I require say 10 people I hire 25 people because I know half of them will quit because they won’t be able to handle pressure and some even may be useless. So I know that by the time the churn happens, I am still left with around 8-10 and these will be effective for me. At Clea, there has never been a botheration at the top level; they have been with me for a very long time. It is only at the mid and entry level that we face attrition issues.

     

    Q: To what do you attribute the highly disorganised state of the industry?

    I keep saying that if you pay peanuts you will get monkeys and the other thing is that the client deserves what they are asking for. But if you decide to go to a one-man army because they are charging some 10 per cent lesser than the others then why do you expect to get miracles from them. It is actually the fault of the bigger agencies because they haven’t been able to address this issue. In fact every industry across the world goes through a consolidation phase but PR industry has never seen that happen. I’ve never seen bigger agencies buy out smaller agencies like the other sectors. When it comes to selling they quote over-the-moon rates; each one of us is aggressive, over-confident, self-assured and egoistic people.

     

    Q: What is the growth that you are looking at as you move forward?

    My growth every year is only going to be between 18-20 percent. I want to beat inflation. That’s been my growth for the past seven years. At the earlier stages we were growing over 100 percent and above but after I pulled back every year it’s going to be nothing more than 18-20 percent.

     

  • Sitting on the fence and watching these media moguls do a self-destructing act is motivating for those who don't take life too seriously and recognize that being born with a silver spoon is as much a curse as a blessing.

    Peter Mukerjea: Murdochgate update

    By Peter Mukerjea

     

    As I write this, it’s Sunday 1st April. It’s April Fool’s day and I thought it was an appropriate day to remind myself that one should not take life in media too seriously at all even though each one of us secretly believes that we matter. If that is so, you live in a fool’s paradise as that’s simply not true. It’s almost a case of ‘Mirror Mirror on the wall – who’s the…. of them all? ‘And that doesn’t just apply to Snow White.

     

    Do you believe that James looks himself in the mirror when he wakes up and asks himself that question?

     

    I doubt that somehow. For if he did he would know that he is now toast. Certainly toast when it comes to running his dad’s empire, towards which he was sailing comfortably just over a year ago.

     

    It’s been a while now, almost a year actually, since I suggested that James should step down. I guess he hasn’t yet done so from all his positions but almost 50 percent of them. But it’s not over yet. And it took him longer than I thought it would, but he did. At least from numerous boards in the UK that enjoyed his presence and executive prowess. The decision with regard to the ‘fit and proper’ test is yet to be taken by the regulator in the UK and in due course we’ll find out what their verdict is. The news which broke last week about the hacking of pay-TV codes will not bode well in their decision-making process even though James probably had nothing to do with it even though he was on the board of the company that claims that the allegations are ‘baseless accusations’. Oddly enough, the very same words used by the company last year when the phone hacking story broke. Since then much water has flowed under the bridge (of sighs) and as we now know, those accusations were never really baseless.

     

    From what I hear, shareholders in the company are gathering ammunition and momentum to get James off the other boards too but Rupert seems to be paying them huge dividends to keep them from pushing him to pull the plug on James. How long will that continue? Another six months or a year perhaps? But James cannot be in the consideration set for the top job at the corporation. And I think that’s the right decision anyway. He’s simply not there yet. And Chase – he is by far a more charismatic, knowledgeable and seasoned executive and what he knows on the tip of his little finger is more than the man in the sharp suit with a strange accent and super polite manners that make you feel a touch weird. So why is he still there? Perhaps, because, where else will he go?

     

    In India, where the presence of the Murdochs used to be regarded with the aplomb normally granted to that of a state visit, they now keep their head down and have their executives come to them rather than the ‘let’s visit the troops’ approach because reputations have eroded and some of the earlier public interest litigations may rear their heads once again.

     

    The fact that there’s trouble in the UK across several fronts is now a well logged fact and getting James to the US may do some damage control but can’t stop the avalanche completely. There’s potential trouble in the US, with the possibility of there being an investigation into the companies’ overseas corrupt practices. There’s a possibility of an investigation in Australia. In China there was trouble a few years ago and the company contracted quite heavily when the companies’ offices were raided and executives were shipped out. So far they’ve been safe in India. So, an earlier suggestion of mine in this column that James should consider setting up base in India now must make more sense to him although his presence in India would be regarded as a predatory move, of course, which will raise the shackles of all competitors. But that’s not a bad thing for the corporation and indeed for the man himself to use this an opportunity to reinvent himself.

     

    What finally happens will be known to all of us as time goes by but the there is a lighter side to all this. There’s the case of the horse that Cameron borrowed from Rebekkah (seeing as they have a home next to each other in the British countryside) and her hubby’s (who is Cameron’s school chum) laptop, that was found (and is still in the custody by the British police), in a bin in their garage that was ‘accidentally’ put there ! And then there’s the story of the German lingerie company that ran a series of ads in a campaign (last July) where they used James and his dad to full effect. They’re called Blush and if you were to Google – how to make Rupert Blush – you can see the ads for yourself.

     

    Wonder how far we are from a similar ad campaign like this in India. Piyush, Prasoon, Balki et al, are you listening?

     

    Sitting on the fence and watching these media moguls do a self-destructing act is motivating for those who don’t take life too seriously and recognize that being born with a silver spoon is as much a curse as a blessing. This entire episode to me is reminiscent of the late Robert Maxwell who was the owner of the Mirror Group of newspapers in the UK and who had a rather sad end. There were plenty of stories about Robert Maxwell but the one where he met two of his bankers on the rooftop of his building on Fleet Street and plied them with oodles of champagne is particularly noteworthy. After several glasses of champagne one of the bankers asked if he could go down to the loo for a pee but Robert Maxwell said that the best way was to pee from the edge of the building down on the street. Both Robert Maxwell and the banker then stood at the edge of the building and peed. When the banker asked “Will no one notice down there?” he was told by Maxwell “No – no one notices anything.”

     

    I’m sure there are a few more revelations yet to come and we’ve not seen or heard the end of this saga, but maybe by next year’s Fool’s day we’ll have had enough and will be truly sick of the goings-on, unless the new ones are so juicy and closer to home that they make us all sit up and ask for more. By the way – there’s a movie doing the rounds presently called The Hunger Games and it’s all about reality television and the extent to which broadcast companies will go to get ratings, and how it can be manipulated. If you haven’t seen it – you should. Particularly if you’re in the business of buying ratings or selling them. Never mind the content, it’s all about the ratings. More on that next week.

     

  • A whole lot of huge names from all walks of life… industrialists, politicians, movie stars, sports stars, etc, were in dutiful attendance. I wonder if the allure had to do with the blaster or that the invite went from Mukeshbhai. I suspect it was the latter… no one in his/her right mind would wish to offend India's richest man.

    Anil Thakraney: The Big Sachin Bash

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I caught glimpses (on NDTV) of that mega party Mukeshbhai and Neetaben threw for Shri Tendulkar. And no, that it was held at that deeply repugnant structure called Antilla didn’t prompt me into hitting my remote control as deftly as Sachin would, in his hey days, heave Shoaib Akhtar over fine leg. It was the master being felicitated after all, so one was expected to pay attention.

     

    Here are some random observations: A whole lot of huge names from all walks of life… industrialists, politicians, movie stars, sports stars, etc, were in dutiful attendance. I wonder if the allure had to do with the blaster or that the invite went from Mukeshbhai. I suspect it was the latter… no one in his/her right mind would wish to offend India’s richest man.

     

    Mr & Mrs Ambani are enormously poor public speakers. They may know how to turn stone into gold, but the duo lacks the ability to keep you from yawning miserably. Two options: They can get other speakers to do the honours. Or, they can enroll for a public speaking course. Don’t think it costs much.

     

    Abhishek Bachchan, on the other hand, is a far better public speaker than he is an actor. Small B needs to attend acting classes, but that’s another story. Priyanka Chopra as the anchor was perfect. Though, quite disappointingly, she turned up over-dressed. Aamir Khan was at his professional best. Guess he rehearsed his speech for the 100th 100 time before driving out for Antilla. Salman Khan mumbled a lot. No one understood what he said, but people laughed all the same. Given the macho star’s fiery temper, that’s always a good idea. But his little dig at SRK was delightful. By the way, wonder why Shah Rukh failed to turn up. Had he arrived, he ought to have been seated next to Sallu bhai. TRPs would have gone through the Antilla roof.

     

    Sachin tried his best to sound cool and humorous. Didn’t really work. Partly because of his recent angry, arrogant outburst at a press con, where he was (quite rightly) questioned on his retirement plans.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGU45aNm-C4[/youtube]

    Lastly, the high point of the show was Lata tai singing “Tu jahaan jahaan chalega, mera saaya saath saath hoga.” Total paisa vasool. Mukeshbhai should now felicitate her just for that.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Nissan India has produced a five minute ‘movie’ starring Ranbir Kapoor. And it’s been created in full filmi shtyle, with all the romance, passion, colour and noise our flicks pack in. This blockbuster will officially be released this month. You saw it here first!

     

  • Ok, so it's not the brightest of economic scenarios, but there are opportunities that Advertising and Promotions can leverage on, to surge ahead. Nagesh Alai tells it like it is.

    The Anchor: Nagesh Alai on 6 ways advertising & promotion can prosper in the new fiscal

    By Nagesh Alai

     

    #1 Economic Situation:

    This is one of the prime factors driving advertising and promotions. In a challenging economic environment, which the GDP downtrend seems to be indicating, ensuring brand recall and staying top of mind with the consumers will be a necessity. While the sluggishness in anticipated growth started showing signs on the back of inflation, high interest, falling currency, etc., in the second half of last year, in a research conducted by our Group’s consulting arm, Cogito Consulting, the bold Report 2012 (available on www.cogitoconsulting.com) shows that CEOs and CMOs of leading companies have predicted a slightly more positive outlook this year with a marginally higher growth rate than earlier years. Some see it as the beginning of a slow return to the high growth rates in the past. My expectation is that the more aggressive companies will take advantage of this trend and try and be the early drivers of growth in their respective categories, thereby investing ahead of their competition to establish an early lead.

     

    #2 The London Olympics

    Usually there is very little interest in the Olympics and more often than not this event slips by the advertisers radar. However, this year there is some interest in Men’s Hockey, Boxing, Wrestling, Badminton, Tennis and the firing range etc….which might pull in a larger number of sports hungry Indian audiences as they search for heroes beyond their usually preferred cricket

     

    #3 CAS and Digitisation will lead to better segmentation and availability of more robust data about the audience, this will encourage companies as they will be able to measure the efficacy and coverage in a more systematic manner. The recent Star-Zee combine efforts and push for ensuring real reporting of actual subscribers should also give a further fillip in capturing better viewership data, as will the industry bodies ( IBF, ISA and AAAI ) coming together on BARC.

     

    #4 Blockbusters on TV

    As everyone knows, movies are a big, big draw in India. Nearly 40-50% of total content on TV is directly or indirectly based on films. The entire movie distribution model has changed. Unlike in the past, now blockbuster movies come on TV within weeks of their release in theaters, instead of months earlier. DTH, Pay TV and Video-on-Demand are shortening the time frames dramatically. This is also drawing audiences and therefore attracts higher spends by advertisers, ultimately helping grow the advertising industry

     

    #5 New/Dormant Categories getting active

    The general anticipation (though some call it sheer optimism) is that the government will open up new categories like retail. An upward trend to the economy would also help drive spends in financial services etc. The government is keen on generating funds for development by diluting it stake in several public sector companies. It is also a reality that there is a huge pent up queue for IPOs planned by various private sector companies as well….an improving economic situation will encourage companies to go public to raise funds and thereby spur the need for corporate campaigns and IPO advertising which will expand the industry further.

     

    #6 And lastly, but not the least, the increasing “through-the-line” emphasis, whereby communication concepts are conveyed to target audience/consumers seamlessly through print, TV, out-of-home, activation, internet, social media, etc. will ensure that advertising and promotion will prosper. At the end of the day, it is all about building the brands and the clients better see advertising and promotion as an investment (which prudent clients do) and not as a cost – it is important to have long term view of brand building and not be blindsided by quarter pressures.

     

    Nagesh Alai is the Director – Draftcfcb Ulka Group India Operations and the President, AAAI.